Lucia
How people experience the Philippine urban transportation system in 2030
Lucia is a teenager with Down Syndrome; she is fairly independent, even if she has some intellectual challenges. She goes to school every day and travels to her therapy center twice a week, all by herself.
It takes her just 30 minutes to get to the therapy center from her house. She walks to an e-jeepney stop nearby. The sidewalks are wide, well-lit, and safe. There is a waiting shed where she can sit down while waiting for the e-jeep with the right route.
The e-jeeps have big readable signs that show their route. Lucia has memorized which jeepney routes she has to take to go to school or to the center and back.
She gets on the right jeep and waives to the driver, who greets her back. She usually likes taking this driver and can tell his jeep apart by the distinctive artwork that features a big red cat. Lucia likes cats.
Lucia just taps her special card on the e-jeep to pay her discounted fare. She hangs the payment card on her neck on a specially colored lanyard that tells public transportation workers that she needs special assistance.
Most of the e-jeepney drivers on her routes are familiar with Lucia and greet her by name. Even the ones who don’t know her are courteous. All public transportation operators undergo service training which includes how to be respectful and helpful to people with disabilities.
Lucia has never lost her way, but if she did, any of the drivers would be happy to help get her back to the right route. Her phone also has a tracking app so her mom can check where she is on her journey.
She gets off at her stop, where she has to cross a wide street to take an e-trike on the other side. The street has a very visible, signalized pedestrian at-grade crossing, so traffic stops before she crosses. There are public assistance officers nearby to assure safety for all pedestrians.
The e-trike drivers also recognize her and bring her to the center a kilometer away. Lucia could walk to the center, but her mom prefers that she takes the e-trike so that she saves time and doesn’t get too exhausted.
Going home, she takes the same route. The stops and the pedestrian crossing are well-lit and safe. Lucia feels confident and competent in making her trips by herself every day.
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